WANTED: Maverick DesertWolf Centre Diff

[wintersdawn 178]

Glad the Carnage body shell went well, always nice to finish a new body, look forward to seeing it. 

Good idea to keep the DW body shell that was on Ebay, good to have an extra one for bashing etc.

Agree about not running RC's in the wet/rain, for me mostly because of the extra cleaning needed afterwards.  On a nice dry day, after a run, I can usually just brush off the body and chassis.  Not sure what's happened to summer, although I do prefer it cooler, brought rain with it too though.

Although I've got several TW body shells I started thinking about the possibility of using a body shell from another RC model that would fit, just to have a change and a different look.  I think I may have found one, the HPI Blitz.  It is roughly the same length and width of the TW and has at least two different body shell designs, although the one below is my favourite.  Unfortunately it would be difficult to know for sure if the wheel arches were in the right place for the wheels to fit under etc, without taking the plunge and getting one.  The Blitz model itself is ok, it's two wheel drive, a brushed or brushless (Flux) version, its very light (not sure if this is a good thing or not) and the battery cover is screwed down, which is a bit of pain to remove each time.

 

[wintersdawn 178]

Did a search on Ebay and came across the HPI Blitz body below and bought it to test if it'll fit the TW. 

Its rough as all get out, with lots of extra body post holes, misc holes and the front wheel arches have been cut but only paid £10 plus £4.99 postage so guess its cheap enough just to see if it will fit and maybe get a better condition one another time.  Seems like it was a clear body shell that was sprayed as its a non-standard colour compared to the originals I've seen. 

[TrueBlue 45]

The Blitz shell looks quite cool actually. 

So you bought that one just to see if the Blitz body will fit... I hope so, because yeah, that shell is pretty beat up, lol. They cut the wheel arches out in a similar way to how the Mustang arches were cut. And why so many body holes, lol.

Does the Blitz shell fit on the Timberwolf? And if so, how much did you have to modify the shell? Hopefully it fits, at least then you'll have an alternative shell to the original, not just in case the TW shells disappear all of a sudden,. but you can change the looks as well. I like the metallic-ish purple though... one of my favourite colours, lol.

[wintersdawn 178]

Yes, love the original black Blitz body shell above but the last few listings on Ebay have been for the complete model and they can be quite pricey, between £125-£200.  I can't really justify that just for the body shell lol.  Maybe one will come up on its own.  The ones on Modelsport and MIBI are clear but come with a complete set of decals so that's the other option, although the body shell pictured on the stores doesn't seem to come with my favourite Blitz decals.  I could buy a complete Blitz model off Ebay with the black body shell, keep the body shell and re-sell it with the purple one lol.  Probably lose a bit though as the purple body shell is so rough.  I don't really want or need the actual Blitz model as prefer the TW. 

The purple body shell hasn't been delivered yet, not till next week.  Thought you would like the colour lol, wondered if it was iridescent as it looks almost black in places where the light is different and then sparkly purple in others.  Yeah, crazy amount of holes in the body, will see if I can cover them with decals, insulation tape or gorilla tape.  Got a lot to choose from but will probably have to drill new holes to make it fit the TW body posts.

Here are the other Blitz body shell designs, really like 3rd orange one below.

 

[TrueBlue 45]

A lot of money to spend just for the body, indeed... but maybe not so bad if you wanted a new, different model to go with the Timberwolf. Although technically both HPI, I assume they both have very different chassis. Could be another short course truck to add to your collection, lol.

Ah, so it's not arrived yet. So still pondering whether or not it's going to fit. Fingers and toes crossed it DOES fit, but not a great loss if it doesn't. Maybe try to neaten the shell up and re-sell it for more than you paid for it. I'd definitely use a drill or body reamer to neaten the holes before you cover them with decals or tape. I always use decals to cover any holes or damage in my shells, as long as I can find some that are a good fit over what I'm covering.

Haha, indeed,  I like the colour. Hard to see what sort of finish it is... look's metallic on the photos, but the alternating black and purple does make it look iridescent, kinda like the green and purple paint I used on the Carnage.

The 3rd orange shell reminds me of the  orange shell on the Traxxas X-Maxx (I still want that truck!).. but I think I like the top most one. More of a pattern, it's a bit more "busy" for lack of a better word. Plus, I like the headlight style on the one compared to the others. Looks more aggressive.

Speaking of the Carnage, here it is with the iridescent green and purple paint, which you can't really see much of the green. I painted the bonnet, tailgate and flatbed black on the outside. Still need to take it out for a run though.

[wintersdawn 178]

Really like the Carnage body shell you did, the iridescent green and purple work well and also the black areas.  Hope you can take it out for a run soon.

Thanks, yes hopefully the purple Blitz body shell will fit, thanks also for the advice about tidying up the extra body holes.

If the picture is correct on Modelsport and MIBI, the clear shell decals include the less aggressive light decals as shown in the 2nd and 3rd pictures above so might just keep an eye out for a used one with the better decals.  I know its not much of a difference but the TW has the same shape of front light decals and I really prefer it.

[wintersdawn 178]

Dug out some decals to cover up the loads of holes in the Blitz purple body shell, including a couple of sets of Modelsport ones that might come in handy.

Still unsure though whether it will fit/work on the TW and if not will do as you suggested, tidy up the body shell as best I can and put it back on Ebay, perhaps for £20 delivered, that way I may just break even.  Not sure I'll get much more.

If that idea's dumped, the only other way to get that black Blitz body shell is to buy the truck but don't really want it that much so going to forget that too.

If the Blitz body shell does fit the TW, apparently the Jumpshot SC and Blitz body shells will fit either truck so the Jumpshot SC body shell should fit the TW too and there are some nice colours/decal designs.

Not much good for RC running again today, had thunder and lightening and rain over night and still raining now...great summer lol 

[wintersdawn 178]

Had the body shell come yesterday and just finished it. Covered almost 30 holes and had to make some new ones for the body posts to fit.

[TrueBlue 45]

Oooh... that's look pretty good, especially with all the extra stickers covering up the holes. Good thing you had all those spare stickers.... did you manage to clean up the holes a little before applying them?

And I assume that is now on the Timberwolf chassis? How well does it fit... like the wheel placement under the arches and all that.

Does this also mean you might try to find a new Blitz shell at some point?

[wintersdawn 178]

Thanks, pretty pleased with it but it will only ever be a basher body due to the cutting done to the front and rear wheel arches.  Yes, found the decals I needed and the body shell is fitted to the TW chassis.  The wheels fit under the wheel arches about the same as the original TW body shell, although there is extra room due to the cutting.

Yes, I used a razor knife/stanley type knife to cut away the raised up bits around the holes so that the decals covering them would lie down flat.

Some of the drilling was a bit fraught as I wasn't sure exactly where to drill but worked out ok.

I will keep an eye out for another Blitz shell now I know they fit and also a Jumpshot SC shell as that should fit too.  If I get a clear one from Modelsport or MIBI I'm not so keen on the decals that seem to come with them.

https://www.modelsport.co.uk/product/hpi-attk-10-short-course-body-363616

https://www.makeitbuildit.co.uk/products/hpi-attk-10-short-course-body

[wintersdawn 178]

This is the side profile view, showing how the wheels fit under the arches. The cutting of the front and rear wheel arches made quite a lot of extra space behind the wheel.

I moved the body shell as far forward as I could but didn't want to lose the front bumper, which would have disappeared behind the body shell if too far forward.

As you know, even with the original body shell, the rear wheels are quite close to the body shell on the inside. With the purple shell the wheel position in relation to the body shell is about the same, give or take a couple of mm.

[TrueBlue 45]

That wheel offset though... that would drive me up the wall seeing the rear wheels that far inwards to the body. It doesn't look normal, even though the original TW shell is pretty much the same.

But it doesn't look too bad. Helps that they're similar sizes as well. Maybe if you got a new Blitz shell, one that isn't cut, you'd be able to cut the rear arches so the rear wheels are a better fit... might even make it look better from the side as well.

I like the look of the Blitz shell more than the Timberwolf shell, but at least the TW shell fits a bit better.

[wintersdawn 178]

For some reason I don't have a problem with the TW rear wheel offset and didn't notice it until you mentioned it when I did the white and silver body shell.  That said I do have other things that drive me up the wall, like paint runs and decals that are not quite centred or level.

I have the two TW original body shells, a pre-printed one bought some time ago, the two that I have done and now the HPI Blitz shell so don't mind if I don't get another one soon.  I also like this purple one better than the original black HPI Blitz body shell I was originally interested in. 

I spent the morning applying Gorilla tape to the underside of the purple Blitz shell and three quarters there but ran out of Gorilla tape so got to wait until a new roll arrives.  It needed it as there are some cracks here and there and generally needed to be firmed up.

Have you done any RC jobs this week?

[wintersdawn 178]

I carried on looking on Ebay for the Jumpshot SC and just bought this, so will see if the Jumpshot sc shell will fit the TW or I could replace the missing parts and get it running.  Looks like parts of the gearbox are missing, also no motor, ESC, receiver, transmitter etc.

[TrueBlue 45]

Wait, is that an entire Jumpshot for £25? Well, a rolling chassis without electronics and a gearbox pieces... but overall not bad for £25 actually... plus another short course truck body to try on the Timberwolf.

Also, I think I like the look of it better than both the TW and Blitz shells. I'm hoping it'll be a better fit on the TW chassis, including the REAR WHEELS FROM OCD badword, lol. Although, even the Jumpshot has the rear wheels ever so slightly inwards towards the arch, but nowhere near as annoying, hehe.

 

[wintersdawn 178]

Yes, a rolling chassis, including the servo, £25 buy it now plus £5.64 postage.  Below are the pictures from the listing.  The body shell is cut but this time its not the arches but the sides and back, I assume for extra ventilation.

       

[wintersdawn 178]

Liking the various Jumpshot SC body shells just a pity the pre-printed ones I've seen are over £60 each.

[wintersdawn 178]

Had the Jumpshot SC come earlier and my, do I love my TW's and DW all over again!

Its so light and feels so cheap, however the orange wheel's look good on the TW with the HPI Blitz body shell fitted, due to the many orange decals, also keeping the Jumpshot orange body shell, put the rest on Ebay.

[TrueBlue 45]

Not surprised it's so light.. there's nothing in it, lol. Plus the chassis is very minimalist, not much to it.

How does the Jumpshot shell fit on the Timberwolf? Have you tried it yet? The shell does look nice though. I think I like it better than the Blitz... I think. 

And the variations of Jumpshot bodies also look good. The green one looks particularly fancy... but yeah, shame they cost £60 each. Ouchie.

[wintersdawn 178]

It just generally seemed a bit flimsy and so I lost confidence it could handle brushless power. Quite relieved actually as the parts needed may have been quite a lot and become expensive.

So far I've just placed the Jumpshot body shell on the TW chassis. Surprisingly the gap between the TW body posts and the Jumpshot holes are the same but the body shell is not centred using them, so got to drill new ones.

Going to respray the black sections on the front and back and put a few decals on.

Done any RC stuff this week?

[wintersdawn 178]

Just fitted the Jumpshot body shell to the TW. Needed new holes at the front but the original holes lined up at the back.

The front and rear wheels fit well under the arches, probably the best of all my TW shells.

I also opened the Jumpshot gearbox and then the diff and the diff/diff gears were for the brushed version. I added all the parts to my basket on Wheelspin that I would have needed to make the brushless diff and it came to just under £65 delivered. For me this was too much and also with my suspicion that it isn't built to handle brushless power. I think the flux version has some improvements.

 

[TrueBlue 45]

So the Jumpshot shell AND orange wheels are on the Timberwolf, sown in the photo? Because if so... yeah, that fits really nicely compared to the other shells... albeit presumably with some body hole modifications.

I like the look of that. Any chances of getting a clear Jumpshot shell and painting? 

[wintersdawn 178]

Yes, the wheels and body shell from the Jumpshot are fitted to the TW. 

The first picture below shows the original holes I need to cover and the second shows the cutting I need to tidy up. I was glad the rear holes fitted the TW body posts, so no extra holes to cover there. There are a few other small holes to cover but nothing compared with the Blitz body shell.

I could do another Jumpshot body shell so it would be in better condition but I have 7 body shells now for the TW lol.

[TrueBlue 45]

It's a good fit. I think it looks better than the original TW shell to be honest. Not a lot in it, but the Jumpshot shells just comes out on top I think, then a toss up between the Blitz and Timberwolf shells.

Good thing the rear body holes lined up perfectly without any extra cutting or drilling. Well, the Jumpshot is made by HPI, and HPI own Maverick, so it kinda makes sense in a way. Both being trophy truck chassis' and all that. And only two extra body holes to cover, instead of 50, hehe... although the rear holes in the slats are a bit unsightly though. Not really much you can do about them unfortunately. 

7 shells for the Timberwolf? Hmm... but would be nice to have a brand spanking new Jumpshot shell painted in your own colour, hehe. 

Speaking of looking for alternate shells, I've been looking for an alternative shell to the Carnage 2.0... and I found one with the Maverick Quantum MT, also sticking with the Maverick theme, lol. Painting it in copper, backed with white so colour should pop. The design is different to the Carnage, but still both 4dr truck style bodies. Will post a photo once it's painted.

[wintersdawn 178]

Cool that you have found another body shell that will fit the carnage, its a really easy (and cheap) way to transform the look of an rc.  Copper backed with white sound good, look forward to seeing the pictures when it's done.

The Jumpshot sc body shell is the best fit over the wheel arches of the TW shells I've got, including the original.

The idea of doing my own Jumpshot sc body shell is a possibility as it looks cool and fits the TW so well.  The only downside is the quality or durability of the lexan HPI used.  I saw a thread online that said they felt the Jumpshot sc lexan was more brittle than the Blitz and I have my own experience to believe this is true.  My Jumpshot sc body shell has splits down each side of the bonnet and a split down one side at the back.  I repaired them with gorilla tape and have nearly finished covering the whole of the underside with gorilla tape hoping it will improve durability and prevent further damage/splits.  A toyo tires version sold on Ebay recently with an identical split to mine at the back.

Yesterday I masked and sprayed the bonnet of the sc body shell and this morning masked and sprayed the back.  The back was quite a mess so over the last few days I tidied up the cutting and removed some of the black paint that was damaged before spraying.